1 March 2010
Voting in Tajikistan's elections last week was marred by widespread fraud, international monitors have said.
The Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) said the polls had "failed on many basic democratic standards".
It said there was evidence of ballot stuffing and proxy voting and media coverage of campaigning was minimal.
President Emomali Rakhmon is widely expected to win the elections - his party dismissed the accusations.
He has been in office for the past two decades.
OSCE co-ordinator Pia Christmas-Moeller said she was pleased by the "generally good atmosphere" on election day.
But she said she was "even more disappointed that these elections failed on many basic democratic standards".
The observers from OSCE and the European Parliament said there had been "serious irregularities" on polling day, including a high prevalence of family and proxy voting and cases of ballot box stuffing.
"Such serious irregularities weaken genuine democratic progress," said Ms Christmas-Moeller.
"There is still a long way to go, and hopefully the new parliament will take up this challenge."
Tajikistan's main opposition party, the Islamic Revival Party, also criticised the poll.
"The past elections in Tajikistan had nothing to do with democracy," Khikmatullo Saifullozoda, one of the party's leaders, was quoted by Reuters as saying.
Early results from the election are expected late on Monday but Mr Rakhmon's governing People's Democratic Party is expected to emerge with the largest share of seats.
The party earlier said there had been minor violations to the poll which would not affect the will of the Tajik people.
